The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-03-24
IN THE RIVIERA.
Interesting Description of the Quake ny
Mr., T. @. Mcdowell.

ceIDt of a letter from his brother. Mt. 4
G, MCDOWELL, cashier Of the bank, who Is
travelling for his health, from Cannes.
France. Mr.. Mcdowell was at MeDtOne
In the Riviera, Italy, when the grGa'
earthquake occurred. Fortunately ht
was in city where no lives we're los
and the damage to property was com
parstively slight. Following Is an ex
tract from the letter relating to the
quake:
IhaVe felt the little rumbIlngs spoken
Of at Canton once or twice, but no person
who has not experienced 1t can nave
any idea of what an earthquake
Is that topples buildings ALI Dc
scriptiOns of horrors seem 0eggsrly ID
contrast. Our hotel was very nearly Oh
the center Of the wave that took an an
gular course through the town from
southeast to northwest. The motion
was up and down with a sideWard
bounce to finish 1t. A number OF build
ings were partially crumbled to the
ground, and on many others the towers
and chimneys were shaken down In
every direction. A dozen Of the best
hotels were more or less damaged, but q
description Of ours, the tiles Brlttani-
Ques," will give you an average idea OF
what took place In every house In the city
The whole building during the period
Of vibrations trembled like leaf. Many
realized that II was an earthquake, bui
no matter what was thought every one
was absolutely certain for the moment
that from the rolling and trembling,
cracking and falling Of plaster, that the
building was falling to pieces. Some
were already up As for myself gener
ally sleep pretty long in the morning,
and | was awakened by rough shaking
up. The buildings here are all Of stone,
and think very we'll built, for they do
not spare labor; as 1t Is the one great
cheap commodities. The "Iles Britain
iQues" Is five stories high; my room was
on the third floor, with large glass doors
on the south, opening out on stone
balustrade; on the north are two doors,
with an entry between, opening into
the hall. These double doors are to more
perfectly keep the noise Of the hotel
from the rooms. Finding my first door
Wedged fast and expecting the other one
would be also, went outside the build
ing along the stone ballster and entered
the next room. By this time the second
shock was occurring and the mortar
from the building was falling like hail
all around. The gentleman occupying
the room quickly unb0lted his front
doors but when got In we found one OF
his doors also wedged. By this time
was warmed up to work and. having good
"Waukenpnast" shoes on, the panel
quickly gave way to my kicks and we
crawled out through the opening. By
the time we got down the shock was
over. There was third one later. Many
peOple were already In the streets when
/ got there; among them the hotel en-
Dioyes, the people who had been astir
and many others who rushed out In
their night clothes. A goOdly number
of the guests we're not to be seen,
among them many inValids, unable
to get out of their rooms and
It was heartrending to think, after the
first impulse was over, how they must
have felt, imprisoned In their beds;when
they saw everybody deserting the ship.
1t was but moment, however, until
the landlord and his assistants returned,
and with many of the walters and
chsmbermaids, rendered every possible
assistance. As no one could tell what
instant another shock might occur, and
how much the building was damaged,
or how much it would stand, 1t required
considerable moral courage to run into
q building FIVE stories high, built of
stone and 6joTs laid with stone In that
condition Soon everybody was out that
wished TO be. Then began the dragging
down OF trunks by the porters, and Ia
dies clothes by the chambermaids be-
longing to ladies, who wonld not enter
the buildiAg, and soon all the Wardrobes
in the house were in the garden In
front of the hotel. Brandy and wiur
were furnished gratis, aud br5skFas
was served both In the restaurant Oh
the first floor aud in the garden, then
came the third but slight shock, and
people began calling for the landlord
to pay their bills and leave, and tha
gentleman, with q very reasonable good
grace, asserted that the people were
foolish for leaving, for they would find
nothing bat crowds everywhere, duc
here they would be sure Of haviTo
plenty to eat. After breakfast accom-
panied q couple OF Engli b ladies dow
through the worst . IT'S Of the town,
that we could see, auI later. az We nat
urally concluded, We would not csTe IL
sleep In the hotel that night, began
looking for 0th(T quarters. Everybody
wanted information about t e quake IN
other places, and as the telegraph
Office and alI business houses were
closed, the only information frgm
other points that could be gotten, Ess
from peop'o who were passing through
on trains, that were all out Of order. and
that information soon became very con-
flictiDg. At this time the two ladies' and
myself determined to take q carriage
and drive out to small restaurant,
knowing they had couple Of small
rooms, and see what the damage WAS In
that direction. Here let me tell you
how quickly these people know how to
adspg themselves to the circumstances
and make hay when. the sun shines"
We had scarcely concluded to go when
carriage drove up, the regular price Of
which would have been two francs. l
motioned to the ladies to get in, saying
price two francs, for have before this
learned that you must always mention
the price. II you do not you are com
PEELED to pay whatever the driver may
see fit to ask when you return. "0h, no!
ten francs," was the reply. | think l
gave him 9 slight look of disgust, enf
the ladies, when they heard him say ten
francs, stopped. We turned away
awaiting another, and the driver turned
away. As nobody seemed to coma and
We were very anxious to 20, he said 81
do 1t for eight francs" We jumped III
and when we reached the restaurant wa
found tive little rooms In one story
building. The rooms would ordinarily
be worth from two to three francs. The
proprietor did not want to say whal
price he would charge. He kept saying
"0h, yes, you can have the rooms ard
they are perfectly safe" But az we In
sisted on knowing the nriea be flXah NE